Hydraulic Handbrake, Buying Advice

[Longboarder]

Exmo has sierra rear subframe. Handbrake cable outers are wire wound like a screw and the front end of both pass through the subframe by the diff. One has a screw adjuster at this point to tension the cable. Aim for four or five clicks of the lever to full on.

But you must ensure the auto adjust in each drum is working and has taken up fully before you adjust the cable.

 

Nigel

[Ben Powers]

*FACEPALM*

 

That'll be the adjuster that I looked at, fiddled with, then decided that it was just a mismatched fixing and it couldn't possibly help me.

 

Its ok though, because after careful consideration I went with the "jam a screw driver into the internals and see which bits move and what does what" approach. This is a patented approach not to be tried by amateurs.

 

Got the brakes right out of adjustment, brake fluid everywhere, roughly adjusted them back in so the drums would go on. Handbrake now better, not perfect, but will stop the car (wouldn't before) and will lock the left wheel (wouldn't before). Pedal still stiff and all wheels still lock (*phew*). I'll give it Sunday's 'solo to let everything settle in before I give the screw adjuster a tweak.

 

I now know how to fix faulty fuel pump wiring, *and* how to adjust a handbrake :-D

 

Thanks again!

[Pete Mar]

Ok if you face the brakes just under the wheel cylinder at the top is the adjuster bar, on the left of that bar you can see the actual adjuster arm which is pushed through the shoe.

If you put a medium sized flat screwdriver into the gap between the shoe and the adjuster arm and push it slowly right you will turn the adjuster which will clicks. You only want to do two or three clicks and then get the shoes roughly centred again. Refit the drum pull up and down a few times on the hand break to recenter the shoes properly and try turning it, you should be able to turn the drum by hand but get some resistance. If it's not right then take the drum off again and adjust as required.

 

Looking at your photos the bake system seems to look wet but I can't tell if it's oil and if it's on the shoes, if it is then you will never get the hand brake to work. I think you may have a leek from the wheel cylinder. The best way to check is to pull back the dust cover, if it is wet inside you will have to replace both the wheel cylinder and the shoes on both sides. Also if this is the case then I would not drive it until it is fixed as you could loose the rear breaks if the cylinder fails fully.

 

I may be wrong but if there is break fluid inside the wheel cylinder dust cover then you need to get it sorted.

 

Pete

[Ben Powers]

Thanks Pete, I'll fine tune these tomorrow now I have an idea what to be doing.

 

The brake system is wet, thanks to an almighty hail storm the minute I had everything disassembled and spread out. I did then spray brake fluid everywhere by pressing the pedal without the drum on but as it was coming from inside the system I think I managed to avoid getting any on the pads. A short test drive shows the brakes to be effective, even improved, so I think i got away with it.